Kilo Lingo

然

rán

Traditional: 然

#5004 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

so, thus; -ly (suffix in adverbs like 当然, 突然)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 然

然

Examples

，散sàn步bù。

I finished eating, then went for a walk.

。

Of course you can.

。

He suddenly burst out laughing.

。

The matter turned out just as he said.

然 (rán) is mostly a bound morpheme meaning so or thus. It forms the tail of many adverbs and conjunctions, including 然后 (then), 当然 (of course), 突然 (suddenly), and 虽然 (although).

Related words

不然

otherwise, or else, if not so

当然

of course, naturally, certainly

然后

then, after that, afterwards

虽然

although, even though, even if

突然

suddenly, all of a sudden; sudden

Appears in 8 words

Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 然.

然后rán hòuthen, after that, afterwards当然dāng ránof course, naturally, certainly虽然suī ránalthough, even though, even if突然tū ránsuddenly, all of a sudden; sudden不然bù ránotherwise, or else, if not so仍然réng ránstill, still yet, as before居然jū ránunexpectedly, surprisingly既然jì ránsince, as, given that

Used in

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This word is part of lesson 101.